Dial tone is an “in-band” tone signal generated by a switching facility such as a central office switch or other telephone network component upon detection of an “off-hook” condition at a subscriber premise. Typically, dial tone, as deployed in the United States, is a combination of a 350 Hz tone and a 440 Hz tone. Dial tone has historically served the role of informing a telephone service subscriber that his or her telephone network is in proper working order and is available for use to place a call. The provision of dial tone is so common and familiar to telephone users that many wireless communications systems now also provide dial tone to users upon depression of an associated key such as, for example, a “talk” button.
While the above-mentioned dial tone serves the purpose of informing a caller that his or her communications network is in proper working order and available for use, it serves no other useful purpose for the caller.
Consequently, a need has developed for an improved method of informing a telephone service subscriber and, in particular, a calling party that his or her communications network is available for use to place a phone call and to provide quick access to user selectable preferred information, or conversely, to information automatically “pushed” to the subscriber with the subscriber's prior approval as a means to a reduced or even free local telephone service rate structure. Such a method and system should provide this function to the subscriber in a manner which enhances the subscriber's communication experience.